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(No Model.)

0.1i. SHOURDS.

SHADE ROLLER. No. 275,531. Patented Apr. 10,1883.

N. PETERa Pnmulhagnpm-r. Wnhingnm. 9.o

UNITED STATES PATnNT @iu-Ica CHARLES F. SHOURDS, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SHADE-ROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 275,531, dated April 10, 1883.

Application led August 7, 1882.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES F. SHoUaDs, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Suspended Shadeltollers, fully described and represented in the following` specilcation and the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthe same.

My improvement consists in an arrangement whereby a window-shade wound upon a spring shade-roller is suspended by tapes having means of attachment to the upper part ot' the window-frame, the said tapes being wound up at pleasure by a spring-fixture, in like manner with the shade itself', thereby avoiding the use of the mechanical arrangements of cords and fixtures heretofore used in suspended Window-shades. My invention includes an arrangementwhereby the tapes may be wound upon a part of the same springroller as the shade, as well as an arrangement wherein the tapes are wound upon a separate 4spring-roller secured at the top ot' the frame.

ln either case I secure for the winding of the tapes the same cheap, simple, and effective means in the use of the self-acting spring that has been chiey enjoyed heretofore in its application to the shade alone.

Figure l of the annexed drawings shows the application of a separate shade-roller to the tape. Fig. 2 shows the tapes wound upon pulleys attached at opposite ends to the spindle of the roller upon which the shade is hung. Figs. 3 and 4 are the fixtures employed at the ends of the lowerv roller in Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the shade-roller on line a' x in Fig. 2. -Fig.6is an edge v iew ofthe sliding catch. Fig. 7 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 8 is al1 enlarged side view of the same, showing the flat spring employed to keep the catch in contact with vthe stop on the pulley.

A is the shade; B', the suspended roller on which it is wound; C, the tapes,and,l l) the cord applied to unwind the tapes Vby simpl-y pulling, and thereby adjusting the shade-roller B at any desired height in the frame.

In Fig. 1 B is a spring-roller of the selfacting kind already in use for winding up the shade itself, and the tapes are represented as fastened to it and wound thereon and provided (No model.)

in Figs. 3 and el. The first of these is merely a tape-link with a round eye in the bottom for the roller-pivot. rlhe other, shown in Fig. 4, is formed with an open slot to keep the roller journal or arbor from turning, and is also provided with an eye at its'lowest end for the cord D. With this construction the upper roller-spring is wound tight enough to support not only the weight of the shade, but the tapes, txtures, and suspended roller B. A pull upon the cord D then extends the tapes to any desired extent, while a pull upon the shade simply turns the roller without affecting the spring which controls the tapes.

In Fig. 2 the tapes are shown secured at their upper ends to the top oi' the window-frame, and having their lower ends Wound upon pulleys, e, secured to a continuous spindle or arbor, d, passed through the sh ade-roller B, and projected at both its ends to receive the pulleys.

The spindle has one end of the windingspring secured to it, and the other end to the barrel, as usual, and is provided with the automatic pawl alreadyin use for checking the ro tation of the barrel upon the spindle. Such construction is not shown in detail, because already common, excepting the projecting oi' the spindle at both ends of the barrel', and such projection does not affect the workingot' the spring or barrel, while it affords the means for applying the two pulleys e c to the spindle and for winding the tapes up by the tension of the spring in the suspended. roller when such spring is not actuating the barrel to wind the shade. By such construction the tapes support the suspended shade-roller without the use of an auxiliary spring-roller hung at the top of the frame, and a suitable catch, arranged to check the rotation of either the spindle or barrel, enables the operator to turn either at pleasure, and wind up the tapes, to

vraise the roller, or to wind the suspended shade upon the barrel. Such catch cannot be fastened permanently to either the barrel or spindle, which are liable to rotate, but to some ixture not arranged to rotate, for which purpose I make use ol the lower part of the tape nearest the catch, forming the latter to be held in place by the spindle and tape. The tapes G and shade A are wound upon the pulleys e at their free ends with theroller-iixtures shown IOC and barrel B in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 5, and the spring is wound sufficiently tight to balance the entire suspended weight.

The catch is shown as a sliding block of metal, (t, provided with a loop, b, at the top to embrace the tape and keep the block vertical, a slot, c, being formed in the direction of its length to slip over the spindle (l of the roller B, between the end ot' the latter and one ofthe tape-pulleys c. The springf is inserted in the slot, and presses upon the spindle through the medium of a cap, d', thus holding the block up with the spindle at the bottom of the slot.

A stop, e', is formed by projecting a piu from the rim of the pulley e, adjacent to the block a, and a similar pin,a, is projected from the lower part of thebloclr, so as to arrest the turning ofthe pulley whenever the block is in its upper position, as shown in all the views. A similar stop is formed by a pin, e2, inserted in the rim of the roller, and a. pin, a2, provided on the upper part of the block to arrest the turning of the roller when the slide is pulled downward by the cord D. \Vhen thus pulled downward the spring in the slot is compressed, the pin a is disengaged from the stop-pin e' on the pulley, and the latter is free to turn around under a continued pull upon the cord D. As the roller is at such times locked fast by the stop a2 e2, the pulley is turned under the tension ofthe spring in the roller, and the height ofthe entire structure can be adjusted by a proper manipulation of the cord, just as a shade is commonly adjusted. When the tension on the cord D is released the stop a c is brought into action under the influence of the springf, and thepulley becomes ahixed to the' tape, and the shade-roller B is free to operate in the ordinary manner for adjusting the shade A.

It will be seen that in both theconstructions described the roller actuating the tapes operates under a tension different from that of a roller employed merely in supporting a windowfshade, as it has to support the weight of both roller and shade. The operation of the roller B in both constructions is therefore identical, the arrangement'shown in Fig. 2 dit'- fering from that in Fig. l lnerely in the fact that the shade is in the former attached to the tape-actuating roller.

It is obvious that other catches may be devised to operate like the sliding block described for preventing the rotation of the roller or spindle and pulleys at the option of the user; and I do nottherefore limit myself to the precise construction described for such catch. The catch may thus be formed of a block held in position by the tape, like the block a, but fitted to the spindle without any slot c or springf. A swinging pawl adapted to engage alternately with the stop on the roller and on the pulley could be arranged to engage the latter by its own weight, and be provided with a lever-arm and cord D for throwing the pawl out of the stop c into the stop e, or a bolt may be made to slide transversely through the block a to engage the roller and pulley alternately in the same manner. The essential feature of the catch is therefore its automatic engagement of the pulley or spindle d, effected in the construction shown in the drawings, by the spring f, and the combination with it of a cord, D, and means for shifting the catch from the pulley to the roller by tension on the cord. Itis therefore obvious that the stop e' may be constructed otherwise-as, for instance, the spindle might be provided with a notch where it enters the slot, and the block a be formed with a pin to enter such notch or depression and check the rotation of the spindle, as is done by the pawl of common shaderollers.

I therefore claim my invention, as follows:

l. The combination,in asuspension windowshade, of the shade actuated by a self-acting spring roller and suspending-tapes actuated by a self-acting springroller, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with a spring shaderoller, of a shade wound upon the roller-barrel and suspending-tapes wound upon the spindle at opposite ends to suspend the roller adjustably, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the roller-barrel and spindle, of a spring shade-roller, both provided with stops, as described, of a suitable catch and means for engaging it automatically with the stop on the spindle, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a roller-barrel and its spindle, both provided with stops, as described, and having a shade, A, and tapes C wound thereon in opposite directions, as set forth, cfa catch, constructed and operated, substantially as described, to check the rotation of either the barrel or spindle, a-nd a loop, b, for preventing the rotation of the catch by en gagement with the suspending-tape, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. SHOURDS.

Witnesses:

Taos. S. CRANE, W. F. D. CRANE.

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